Aerial vessel.



45 improved aerial vehicle.

Patented August 30, 1904.

UNI TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD DE WALDEN AND HANS KNUDSEN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

AERIAL VESSEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,034, dated August 30, 1904. Application filed 3,1905. serials. 150.967- (in model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HOWARD DE WALDEN, a subject of theKing of Great Britain, residing at Seaford House, Belgrave Square, and

HANs KNUDSEN, engineer, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at 29".

Gillingh'am street, London,'England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Mechanically-Propelle'd Aerial. I Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.-

This invention has reference to mechanically-propelled aerial vehicles.

Up to the present'it has been usual to constructaerial vehicles in such a way that the car carrying the propelling machinery is only a short distance below the inflatable or buoyant portion.

Now according to thisinvention we 'pro- 2 vide for the. suspension of the car and ma- 5 range of stability is attained. The lifting or flying power is obtained not by buoyancy, but by aeroplanes, thebuoyant portion being only employed to neutralize the weight and not to efiect the actual lifting operation. The steer- 3 ing is performed by meansof specially-constructed rudders, which are arranged so that they will expand and act as parachutes in the event of the vehicle descending too rapidly. Other parachutes may also be provided in convenient positions for checking the speed of the descent.

The vehicle is propelled by means of screws. In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into 4 effect, we will proceed to describe the same more fully With reference to the accompanying drawings, in which g Figure 1- is an end view, Fig. 2. a side view, and Fig. 3 a plan, of. one construction of our Fig. 4 is an under side View showing one of the rudders in its expanded condition. Fig. 5 is a plan, Fig. 6 a front edge view, and Fig. 7 a rear edge View, of one of the aeroplanes.

a is the main frame or skeleton structure of the vehicle, which is formed of light steel tubes and is of more or less rectangular form, its greatest length being ina vertical direction.

Z) is the car, which the frame a serves to connect with the buoyant upper part of the vehicle at a relatively considerable distance therefrom, whereby the center of gravity of the vehicle is situated far below the buoyant portion, so as to offer resistance to any tendency of the vehicle to move out of the vertical.

0 0 are gas vessels or envelops which constitute the said buoyant or supporting portion ing its front edge (Z straight and its rear edge. d bent to the shape of an obtuse angle. (See Figs. 5, 6, and 7.) Each frame is covered with light flexible material, such as oiled silk or gold-heaters skin. As the vehicle is propelled the pressure of the air causes this material to belly or curve upward, so that the said aeroplanes act'as aerocurves, which have been found to possess much greater lifting power than aeroplanes. The frames of the aeroplanes are connected pivotally at (Z to the framework of the vehicle, so as to be capable of simultaneous movement for adjusting the angle of the planes. For this purpose the aeroplanes of each set are at their inner edges pivoted to rods d, which are connected by a swing-bar (if, pivoted at d, to the frame of the structure. The inclination of this bar, and therefore of the aeroplanes, is controlled by a hand-wheel d through the medium of a chain (2 and a chain-wheel d e c are the rudders, which are hinged at e and are formed of flexible material. They are mounted on the vertical frames 6 at each end of the vehicle. The flexible material consists of two thicknesses, which are unconnected together at the bottom, so that should the vehicle descend too rapidly the air will find its way between the said two thicknesses of the material and cause them to open or expand after the manner of a parachute. For this purpose the lower edges of the two thicknesses of flexible material are carried byhinged bars e 0 and the ends of the two outer hinged bars are connected with a sleeve 6*, which is capable of sliding on the lower horizontal member 6 of the framework of the rudder. So long as the vehicle continues an even course the said sleeve maintains its positionnear the end of'the lower horizontal member a; but in the event of the vehicle descending too quickly the said sleeve will slide inwardly under the pressure of the air entering the open lower end of the rudder, and thereby cause the latter to automatically open and operate as a parachute. The position of therudders for the purpose of steering is controlled by any convenient meanssuch, for instance, as a cord a passing over a pulley e operated by a steering-wheel 0 f is another parachute of umbrella or other appropriate formation, which may be normally held in a contracted condition by cords or ropes under the control of the occupants of the car, so that they can in cases of emergency render this parachute capable of opening if it should be found that the rudder-parachutes are for any reason ineffectual in properly checking the descent of the vehicle.

9 g are screw-propellers for driving the vehicle. These are arranged in two pairs at the front and rear of the vehicle, one screw of each pair being at the top and the other at the bottom of that portion of the frame in which the aeroplanes are situated. These propellers are geared together and are driven by means of cords or bands g and pulleys g from a pair of smaller pulleys 9 each driven by a separate motor or turbine g. These motors are arranged so that they can be driven either separately or simultaneously.

it is an expanding fin arranged beneath the car. In the example shown the said fin consists of a sheet of flexible material provided with radial ribs h. This fin when in its expanded state will offer a resistance to any undesirable lateral movement of the car, so as to prevent or check the swinging of the latter.

2' 2'- are rubber-covered wheels, of which theremay be four, for supporting the car when on the ground.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an aerial vehicle, the combination with a rectangular skeleton frame, having its greatest length in a vertical direction, of a car connected with the lower end of said skeleton frame, frames arranged in two vertical series or groups at the fore and aft of said skeleton frame and covered with flexible fabric to form aeroplanes, the front edge of each of said frames being straight and the rear edge bent to an obtuse angle, hinge connections at the straight edges of said frames, lever mechanism for simultaneously setting said hinged frames to the desired vertical angle from the car, means for propelling the vehicle, and means for steering the same, substantially as described.

2. In an aerial vehicle, the combination with a rectangular skeleton frame having its greatest length in a vertical direction of a car connected with the lower end of said skeleton frame, frames ar 'anged in two vertical series or groups at the fore and aft of the skeleton frame and covered with flexible fabric to form aeroplanes, the front edge of each of said hinged frames being straight and the rear edge bent to an obtuse angle, hinge connections at the straight edges of said frames, sliding rods to which the hinged frames are connected, a rocking bar connecting together the lower ends of said sliding rods, means for actuating said rocking bar from the car, means for propelling the vehicle, and means for steering the same, substantially as described.

3. In an aerial vehicle, the combination with a rectangular skeleton frame having its greatest length in a vertical direction, of a car connected with the lower end of said skeleton frame, adjustable aeroplanes arranged in two series or groups at the fore and aft of the said skeleton frame, means for adjusting said series or groups of aeroplanes from the car, means for propelling the vehicle, rudders at the fore and aft of said skeleton frame, means for actuating them from the car, and means whereby said rudders will expand. laterally and act as parachutes in the event of the vehicle tending to descend too quickly, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 23d day of March, 1903.

HOlVARD DE WALDEN. HANS KNUDSEN.

W itnesses:

WM. MELToN J ACKSON, T. SELBY WARDLE. 

